History: (Quasar#30 (fb) - BTS) - Earth-Quasar Lost Cosmos
in Collision apparently diverged from Earth-616 during Maelstrom's attempt
to destroy the universe (Quasar#19-25). Quasar died, slain by Maelstrom,
and Maelstrom continued with his plans. However, Thanos, who had the Infinity
Gauntlet, had enough power to stand up to him.

(Quasar#30) - The Quasar of Earth-616, on a mission for the
Earth-616 Watcher, was tracking down errant counterparts of the Living Laser.
While doing so, he came to this alternate Earth. He arrived through its Watcher's
portal, only to find the native Watcher dead. Then, a thermonuclear blast
hit, which Quasar barely shielded himself from. Teleporting away, Quasar
saw Thanos and Maelstrom fighting each other. They were millions of miles
tall and playing tug-of-war with the sun. Their struggle over control of
the sun caused solar flares that had destroyed the Earth and the moon.

The sun then blew up, but Thanos and Maelstrom continued their
battle. However, Maelstorm detected Quasar's presence. Maelstrom sent a blast
at the fleeing Quasar who attempted to escape via the Quantum Zone.

(Quasar#31) - The Watcher and Her observed Thanos and Maelstrom
continued their battle. The Watcher could not find Quasar anywhere in the
Multiverse. Quasar ended up in the New Universe (which stands outside of
the Multiverse), eventually made his way back to Earth-616, and immediately
kissed the Man-Thing.

Comments: Created by Mark Gruenwald and Joe Zulueta
and Pat Broderick-N-Co.

The Cosmos in Collision storyline ran in Quasar#19-25. During
this storyline, Thanos made quick cameos in #19 and #24, around the time
of the Infinity Gauntlet.

Quasar's going through the Watcher's portal to visit What
If Worlds sprung from the events of Quasar#6 (January 1990). In that issue,
Quasar chased the Living Laser to the moon. The Laser slipped into the Watcher's
home, and saw the portal through which the Watcher observes alternate Earths.
In this case, Uatu observed E105709-a world where the new X-Men died on their
first mission, as seen in What If II#9 (January 1990). The Living Laser flew
into the portal at some point after page 24 of that story.

(This indicates, by the way, that the Watcher does not observe
alternate Earths in any particular order, since the above world diverged
from Earth-616 in Giant Size X-Men#1, which came out in 1975. This is important,
since chronologizing his What If appearances has been a pet project many
have thought of pursuing over the years.)

The Living Laser inexplicably appeared in Iron Man I#258-261
with no explanation as to how he returned to Earth-616. So, in Quasar#30,
the Watcher explained that the Earth-616 Living Laser encountered his E105709
counterpart, after which the Earth-616 Living Laser attempted to make his
way back to Earth-616, so he went to the moon and went through the E105709
Watcher's portal.

However, the Living Laser diverged in transit through the
portal. One counterpart made it back to Earth-616, while the other counterpart
went astray and went somewhere else. Everytime he realized he was not home,
he went through the portal again, creating more and more counterparts. The
Time Keepers, observing this, threatened to have the Watcher's alternate-reality
viewing privileges revoked.

(This issue explained that the Time Keepers authorized the
Watcher's alternate Earth portal. A flashback showed the Time Keepers talking
to the Watcher as he observed the alternate Earth where Xavier became the
Juggernaut from What If II#13.)

Other Alternate Earths Seen in This
Issue

Seven alternate Earths were affected by the wandering Living
Laser. Quasar was dispatched to visit them to find the Living Laser. The
Earths included:

1. The world where Korvac attempted to conquer the universe
and unleashed the Ultimate Nullifier. This world was seen in What If I#32
and in What If I#43/2. (Quasar arrives at some point before the What If I#43/2
story, since that story took place after Korvac had used the Nullifier, when
the Doctor Strange, Phoenix, and Silver Surfer of that universe, whom Korvac
had banished, returned to find the remains of their universe.)

2. The world where the Avengers lost the Evolutionary War.
(What If II#1)

3. The world where Captain Marvel did not die of cancer. First
seen in the humor issue, in one-panel of What If I#34, then seen again in
What If II#14.

4. The world where Wolverine became Lord of the Vampires from
What If II#24 (note: a variation of this Earth appeared in What If
II#37)

5. The world where Spider-Man was not freed until too late
from his alien costume from What If II#4.

6. An Earth, which was shown in one panel of page 22 which
involved the Phoenix, but not much else was given to identify it; however,
since on the cover of the issue, the Phoenix appears in the form of Jean
Grey, one could guess that it was the world seen in What If I#27, as well
as in one panel of the humor issue What If I#34, and since Quasar comments
"Is it my imagination, or is every single reality the Laser propragated himself
into on the verge of destruction?", this also fits this world (since that
Earth was destroyed by its Phoenix). (The world where Conan fought Wolverine
from What If II#16 was also destroyed by the Phoenix, and could also be this
Earth.)

7. The world where Set came to Earth and conquered it from
What If II#25. This was described as the last of the seven alternate Earths
the Watcher told him to locate a renegade Laser.

8. Finally, Quasar goes to Earth-Quasar Lost Cosmos in Collision.
This was never shown in any issue of What If, by the way. In fact, Quasar
never got his own issue of What If, and even comments while passing through
Earths that he never seemed to encounter a world where he played an important
role!

Earth-616 Natives Encountering What If World
Natives

Before these issues of Quasar, it was hypothetically possible
for an Earth-616 character to travel to a What If world, but it seems no
story had ever shown this happening. (The Official Handbook Deluxe Edition's
entry for What If Worlds under Other Dimensions stated that there was at
least one case; a world where Reed Richards became the Thing. This sounds
as if they were talking about Earth-A. If they were, Earth-A was not introduced
in a What If story, but it may have been mentioned by the Watcher in a framing
sequence for a What If story, which would make it technically a What If world,
since Uatu had been shown to observe it.) Since then, a few other stories
have had What If world characters interact with Earth-616 characters.

1. What If II#39 had the Earth-616 Watcher interact with Reed
Richards Rocket Group, who first appeared in What If I#36. (Reed Richards
Rocket Group is a non-superhuman version of the Fantastic Four.)

2. Avengers Forever#3-4 had members of the Earth-616 Avengers
interact with Avengers from a world similar to What If I#9, a world where
a version of the Avengers existed in the 1950's. (Note: The story in What
If I#9 was apparently not narrated by the Watcher, but rather had a framing
sequence in which the Earth-616 Avengers were using a time-viewing device
devised by Iron Man. Iron Man noted that he could not be sure whether they
were seeing an event from Earth-616's past or from an alternate Earth's past.
The 1950's Avengers disband at the end of this story in What If I#9.) Kurt
Busiek has stated that the events of What If I#9 could have taken place on
Earth-616, but if so, the team did not continue on under the name the Avengers,
but as the G-Men.

3. Spider-Girl was introduced in What If II#105, and travelled
to Earth-616 in Spider-Girl#10-11.

4. Avengers Forever#11-12 saw members of the Earth-616 Avengers
interact with Avengers from various alternate Earths and timelines, including
two seen earlier in What If stories; the Armored Avengers from What If I#3 (a
world where Iron Man built suits of armor for the other Avengers to battle
the Hulk and Sub-Mariner), and the Avengers from What If II#114. (What If
II#114 diverged from the Secret Wars, since here the warriors stayed on Battleworld and intermarried. After 25 years, their children returned to
Earth-to find that the Sentinels conquered it.) Also, some Spider-Girl characters
appeared in Avengers Forever#11-12.

5. The Reed Richards of Reed Richards Rocket Group apparently
communicated with his Earth-616 counterpart in Fantastic Four III#58.

I should mention that in What If II#1, the Watcher was shown
observing, en passant, Earth-S, the home of the Squadron Supreme. This would
technically make it a What If world, but crossings between Earth-S and Earth-616
are much too frequent to list. (The Watcher also observed an unidentified
Axis Victory in World War II world.) Apparently, an issue of the original
What If also showed the Watcher observing
Earth-A.

Quasar ended up in the New Universe. Upon returning to Earth-616,
he kissed the Man-Thing.

People have often wondered if the Watcher's appearances as
a narrator in What If should be considered canonical, since he seems to be
breaking the fourth wall by talking to the camera. However, this presents
no problem, since what he is apparently doing is recording his narration.
In fact, in Quasar#47, Quasar actually walks in on the Watcher during his
recording session! (The Watcher was about to begin to relate a tale of an
alternate Earth where he became a rogue). In an alternate future, the Guardians
of the Galaxy also saw some of their alternate counterparts in the Watcher's
viewscreens (Guardians of the Galaxy Annual#1, Korvac Saga).